Tag: Videogames

White Knight Chronicles International Edition Dated for 2/2/2010

White Knight Chronicles

Sony has announced that White Knight Chronicles International Edition will be released on February 2, 2010. Here are some additional details from associate product manager Cristian Cardona:

  • Over 50 disc-based online quests. You can complete these quests solo, or cooperatively with up to three other players to gain extra gear and experience. (That’s just on the disc. Wait until you hear what else we’ll have at launch!)
  • Voice Chat. Need we say more? =)
  • The Georama. Build an online village for your character where you can invite friends to complete quests online and purchase unique items and gear.
  • Live Talk. Leonard and his companions will have side conversations during gameplay, adding a little more character to your travels through the world of White Knight Chronicles.

Sony also showed of the box art for the international edition. Hit the break to check it out.

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What Are You Playing This Weekend?

My knee has been acting up again, so I’m going to try to stay in bed and keep my leg elevated most of the weekend. Thankfully, I have a bunch of Green Lantern trade paperbacks to devour — most of them are repeats (Rage of the Red Lanterns, Agent Orange, etc.), but I borrowed Emerald Eclipse from a friend, which will add some new GL goodness to my life.

Scribblenauts

Man cannot live on comic books alone though, so I’m happy that I picked up Scribblenauts during Amazon’s Black Friday week. This game came out while I was in Japan in September and with all the craziness over the last few months, I kind of forgot about it. I’m looking forward to testing the word parser and seeing how imaginative the game can be. Some of my more competitive friends said it was boring, but admitted that they used the words “trampoline” and “angel wings” way to much. To me, winning isn’t the point of Scribblenauts. I want to see how creative it will allow me to be. I’m really looking forward to it!

How about you? What’s on tap for your gaming weekend?

Coffee Talk #40: Your Favorite Videogame Villains

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the U.S. vs. England in the World Cup, the return of Paul “The Punisher” William, or whether Pacquiao/Mayweather is a go for March 13, 2010, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I was chatting with some industry friends about videogame villains when I realized that I don’t have a favorite one. That just seems odd to me. I can spout off dozens of comic-book baddies I love. The same goes for movies and television shows. But for some reason, I don’t have a favorite videogame villain.

M Bison

There are certainly no shortage of bad guys to choose from in games. Whether you like cerebral assassins, evil dictators, comedically ineffectual turtle overlords, or guys that just want to blow crap up, gaming has it all. Maybe it has something to do with how I don’t like playing games as an evil character; perhaps the interactive experience makes me actively dislike videogame villains? *shrug*

Perhaps you can help me out. I want to know who your favorite videogame villains are. Maybe your great selections will help jog my memory so that I can pick one baddie to rule them all.

Crisis Core’s Zack Fair Will be in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Zack Fair

Fans of Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII will be thrilled to know that Zack Fair will be in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Andriasang posted some details:

In Birth by Sleep, he will appear in Olympic Colosseum as a lone soldier. He’s undergoing training in order to max out his strength.

Screenshots show Zack in a faceoff with main character Tera in an Olympic Colosseum tournament. In contrast, Zack appears to be on good terms with main character Ventus.

I love it! As many of you know, Crisis Core was my favorite game of 2008. Zack’s prequel adventure was brilliant and he’s one of my favorite videogame protagonists in years. I was already geeked out for Birth by Sleep. Zack’s inclusion takes my geekdom to a new level.

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Baby Dog Time Reuniting at Umloud Charity Event — Be There!!!

To promote the Umloud! charity event, benefiting the excellent Child’s Play Charity, the organizers sound out this excellent video detailing the reunion of the fake videogame band Baby Dog Time. Here’s the backstory:

Karen (token bass girl), Joe (post-rehab drummer), Seg (voted “most likely to break up the band”), and Chris (singer, egomaniac) have been through many trials and tribulations over the years, but are setting their differences aside for one last performance to benefit a great cause. And this is a great opportunity for you to reunite your band for the same reason! Come out to Ümloud!, hosted at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, next Wednesday, December 9, 2009! Ümloud! will feature Rock Band all night long, raffles, a silent auction, prizes and more! Sign up today at www.umloud.org.

Chris and Karen are friends of mine, so this video is hilarious to me. I’m also amused that Karen was cast as the bass player after I wrote about how much I love Ginger Reyes, D’arcy Wretzky, Paz Lenchantin, and Jen Cohen (The Fairways forever!!!). Anyway, check out the vid. I was planning to go up to SF for Umloud, but I’m injured and poor. Ha! But if you live in the Bay Area, I encourage you to attend and support this fine event.

Jimmy Kimmel Talks About Dragon Age’s Bi Elf Assassin

Zevran is getting some major airtime, as Jimmy Kimmel did a spot on Dragon Age: Origins‘ bisexual elf assassin. Even though the game is being used as a joke, I’m psyched that a BioWare product is getting mentioned on network television.

Coffee Talk #39: Gamer Girl Hot

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, whether the New Jersey Nets will go 0-for-December, Tiger Woods’ adventures in adultery, or whether Nokia can make Symbian competitive, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Erin AndrewsThere are certain things a woman can do that make her 20 to 30 percent more attractive than she already is. Female sportscasters are a great example of this. A cute female sportscaster will automatically be promoted to beautiful. A beautiful one elevated to goddess. (See ESPN’s Erin Andrews.) It’s called being “sportscaster hot”.

Female gamers benefit from this “gamer girl hot” phenomenon too. Is it shallow? Maybe…but I am of the opinion that elevating gamer girls is a good thing. On a practical level, it’s a common interest. For the sake of changing the image of what a gamer is, it’s fantastic to show that there are hardcore gamer women out there. In my mind, any woman that’s an avid gamer should be considered attractive because she has an awesome hobby.

Ginger Reyes

My big weakness is female bass players. I had a huge crush on D’arcy Wretzky for years — she was definitely a cutie, but playing bass made her sexy. Ginger Reyes is another beautiful woman that’s too-hot-to-walk-the-Earth because she plays bass. Paz Lenchantin is either my dream girl or too much woman for my brain to process — she plays bass and videogames!

Are there any sportscasters, gamers, bass players, actresses, or singers that you find more attractive because of what they do? Please list any gals or guys that pop in your head.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Coming Out March 18, 2010

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Konami has updated the official site for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PlayStation Portable, showing a Japanese release date of March 18, 2010. The North American release date is still “tbd”.

I know a lot of you were high on Metal Gear Solid 4 (as well you should be), but I also know that quite a few of you aren’t down with portable gaming. Will a true Metal Gear game for the PSP change that for you?

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Google’s Top 10 Videogame Search Terms for 2009

Google Zeitgeist has posted its top 10 search terms for a bunch of entertainment categories, including videogames. Here are the top 10 queries for games.

  1. ghostbuster
  2. ufc
  3. saw
  4. bakugan
  5. batman arkham asylum
  6. twilight
  7. fifa 2010
  8. modern warfare
  9. transformers 2
  10. resident evil 5

Ghostbusters the Videogame

The list is pretty interesting and indicative of what casual consumers search for. While a few of the titles on the list are definitely for the hardcore, a bunch of the search terms are mainstream. And then there’s Bakugan…which shocked the hell out of me at #4.

Anything on the list surprise you?

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EALA and Dice Team Up for New Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor box art

Electronic Arts announced details on the new Medal of Honor game. Normally, I abhor writing about game announcements (especially ones on military shooters), but there was something interesting about the new MoH — the single-player and multiplayer components are being developer by two different teams. Here’s a snippet from today’s press release:

Medal of Honor is being built with a best-in-class single-player campaign. The Medal of Honor development team at EALA has been hand-selected by the studio leadership of general nanager Sean Decker, executive producer Greg Goodrich and senior creative director Rich Farrelly. To compliment the single-player experience, EALA has enlisted the multiplayer expertise at EA DICE. This team will develop the multiplayer experience of Medal of Honor. These two studios are coming together to deliver a world-class Medal of Honor that is poised to re-set the franchise for a new generation.

It’s interesting that two big and established teams are working on different components of one game. I’m curious to see if it will be a homogeneous experience or if the game will feel incongruous.

Furthermore, I want to know how DICE will “compliment the single-player experience.” Will it say supportive and nurturing things to it? Will it say nice things about the single-player experience’s shoes and hair? I want to know!!! More importantly, I want to know if any of you are interested in this game.